In the Woods
by See Jane Write
Summary: Casey's condition in Night is much more serious than anyone realized. CO.
1. Chapter 1

In the Woods

Summary: Casey's condition in "Night" is much more serious than anyone realized. CO. Slight crossover with other Law and Orders.

Author's Note: Something I've had the idea for since the beginning of January to cure some slight depression. Read, review. On a more story-related note, starts in "Night" where Olivia is coming into Casey's office.

Spoilers: "Night", slight "Loss".

Disclaimer: Star light, star bright and all that jazz. I wish I could have all these magnificent Dick Wolf characters. No? Darn. Worth a shot.

For Bex

* * *

Chapter One

Darkness loomed in the hallway leading to Casey Novak's office. The only spots of light were from underneath the office doors of the few very dedicated ADAs left in the building. Olivia Benson frowned as she realized that Casey's was not one such office. She had walked three blocks to find a decent open place that sells coffee. The line was not the shortest considering there was only one employee managing the cash registers. It was also a three-block walk back to the District Attorney's office. If Casey had the nerve to leave…

Olivia stopped as she came to Casey's office. Something just did not feel right. She tried to ignore that feeling as she twisted the metal doorknob open. She muttered something about her trek to get the coffee and how Casey better be inside when she had finished opening the door. As soon as she finished her statement, Olivia wished she could take it back. The sight in front of her frightened Olivia. She could not remember being that afraid since the night Alex was shot.

As an involuntary reaction to seeing Casey lying there on the floor, Olivia dropped the two coffee cups to the floor. Cleaning that mess was the farthest thing from her mind. She rushed over to Casey. She already feared for the worst. Tears formed in her eyes. "Casey?" she called.

Olivia's hand grabbed Casey's wrist. She placed one thumb on it to feel for a pulse. "Come on, Case," she begged. Relief filled her body once she realized Casey had one.

Her eyes scanned Casey's body. Bruises covered the young woman's face. She did not know what else was injured, so she did not dare move Casey. She could only stare. "Why?" she asked. "Why you?"

She craned her neck up to look for Casey's office phone. It was not in its usual position on her desk. Come to realize it, nothing was in its usual spot on her desk. Nothing on the floor or the desk was where it had been only about twenty minutes earlier. One hell of a fight took place in this office, Olivia realized.

Olivia gingerly ran her fingers down Casey's arm. "It's going to be ok," she promised. With her right hand, she kept rubbing Casey's arm. With her left, she attempted to find her cell phone. "It's going to be ok."

Outside in the hallway, the aroma of fresh coffee was strong. Very strong. That scent combined with Olivia's constant repetition of the words "It's going to be ok" was enough to attract the attention of Tracey Kibre. The elder ADA poked her head into the room. Like Olivia, she was taken aback by what she saw. Tracey made her way over to Casey and Olivia. "What happened?"

Olivia was trying hard to keep her resolve. She had to be strong for Casey. She did not need Tracey holding her hand through all of this. "Honestly, I was hoping you'd know," she responded.

Tracey nodded slightly. Unfortunately, her office was not close enough to Casey's. She was on her way out when she heard Olivia's voice. She knew that she could not say anything to help. Instead, she took her cell phone out of her coat pocket and handed it to Olivia. Olivia gratefully accepted it and dialed 911.

It took two rings before she got an answer. "911, what is your emergen--"

"It's my girlfriend," Olivia interrupted. Her heartbeat was racing like a tardy intern on his first day. "Someone attacked her. She's unconscious, and I don't know how long she's been like that." She proceeded to give the address to the D.A.'s office. Once she could hang up, she did. She promptly returned to rubbing her fingers along Casey's arms. She placed a gentle kiss on Casey's forehead. "It's going to be ok," she whispered.

The room fell silent. Neither Olivia nor Tracey dared to say anything. Nothing needed to be said. They could only wait. The only noise at all in the room came from Casey's office clock ticking out the seconds. The silence between each tick was hollow and creepy. Time almost seemed not to exist at all.

"How long is this damn ambulance going to take?" Olivia asked bitterly. She did not know the extent of Casey's injuries. Although her girlfriend's condition did not seem to be life-threatening, looks could be deceiving. Olivia needed to hear about Casey's condition from a medical professional. She could not sit there in uncertainty.

"Liv, it's only been ninety seconds," Tracey noted as she placed a comforting hand on Olivia's shoulder.

Olivia frowned as she grabbed Tracey's wrist. She looked at the watch above it and frowned. Of course Tracey was right. Tracey was always right. She dropped Tracey's wrist and returned her focus to Casey. Her girlfriend was breathing on her own, but she looked pained. It hurt Olivia to see her like that.

"What about now?" Olivia asked.

"Two minutes," Tracey responded with one look at her watch.

The sound from the ambulance was getting louder. Olivia knew exactly where it was. It would only be another minute or so until it was in front of the D.A.'s office. She looked down at Casey again. "I don't--I don't want to leave her," Olivia whispered.

"I'll wait for them," Tracey assured Olivia as she stood up and rushed for the stairs. She did not hear Olivia's grateful response.

Olivia rubbed her fingers along Casey's arms. She leaned over her girlfriend and placed a small kiss on her forehead. "Hang in there, angel. Help is on the way."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Olivia heard the ambulance sirens getting louder. The sound remained at that constant loud sound. They were here. Within a minute or two, Tracey and the paramedics would be upstairs in Casey's office. She walked over to the door to give them a better indication of which room was Casey's. The light was still off in the office. Casey was less than six feet away from her, but it was almost too dark to see her. Olivia quickly turned the light on. The EMTs would need it anyway.

She could hear the vague sound of footsteps pounding on the stairs. Fast and numerous. The EMTs were there. She stood in the hallway. She saw Tracey round the corner. The paramedics were right on her heels. "She's in here," Olivia called. She then stepped out of the way, as did Tracey.

"She hit her head," the first EMT noted as he knelt down next to Casey. "We have to be careful."

Olivia could only watch. She saw the stretcher. There were five EMTs in the room. Why five? Was there something wrong? No. They could not know that yet. They only knew what she knew, which was not a lot. It was probably just standard procedure. It still frightened her.

"On three," the first one said again. Once he counted to three, all the five paramedics carefully transferred Casey onto the stretcher. They had to hurry. They rushed her out of the hallway and down to the elevators.

Olivia was in shock by how fast they were moving. Her eyes filled with tears, but she could not move. She stood there paralyzed in fear. Fear for her girlfriend. She knew the feeling, and she hated it.

Tracey noticed that Olivia's eyes were wet. She moved over and comfortingly hugged the detective. "Don't worry too much. I've known Casey since she was in white collar. She's strong, ok? She'll be fine."

Olivia nodded. "Thank you again, Tracey," she whispered as she dabbed at her eyes. She then rushed down the hallway. She had to be quick. She caught up with the paramedics just as the elevator doors were about to close. They saw her and let her in. She grabbed Casey's hand and held on tightly.

She could barely remember what happened after that. She knew that she was leaving the D.A.'s office. That was something she did almost every day. There were never any sirens around it though. There was not a fair amount of people who needed to see what was happening. It was not their business. She followed Casey and climbed into the ambulance. The ride to the hospital was a blur. She did not even catch the name of the hospital they would be going to. It was too much of a blur. A blur of medical terms being thrown around in a sea of flashing lights and blaring sirens. She was not a doctor. Although she and Casey could spend hours watching _Grey's Anatomy_ and _ER_, she did not know what the paramedics were talking about. None of it made sense.

CT scan. She caught that. She knew what that was. She kissed Casey's hand lightly. "I love you," she whispered.

The ambulance was slowing to a stop. There was a hospital, and Olivia could tell they were at the emergency room. Casey was rushed out of the ambulance into the waiting hands of eager new interns and residents. Olivia frowned as she slowly followed. Of course, Casey had to get attacked when the teaching hospitals were just getting their new students. She only hoped one of them would not screw it up. She could not live with that possibility.

The last EMT looked at Olivia. "Miss, you can follow me," she said softly. She began walking away from the emergency entrance. Casey was out of sight. Olivia's heart raced harder.

"No," Olivia declared. "I can't. I need to be with my girlfriend."

The EMT shook her head. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to wait. If the doctors need to know anything, they can find you."

Olivia grumbled something, but she reluctantly went to the waiting room. She barely could pay attention there either. She was too worried about Casey. She did not know what she could think. Casey was not with her. She was in a state of uncertainty. As a detective, she was used to it. Special Victims cases never make sense. But this was different.

She could not make sense of the attack. She did not know if she ever could. Like most of the ADAs in New York City, Casey had enemies. But for someone to do this to her…Olivia just did not get it.

She had the potential to figure out what had happened to Casey as a result though. She could be in there with her at this very moment. She would be if it were not for the damn hospital staff forcing her to wait outside the emergency room. She hated it. Family members were often allowed back there. Sometimes, girlfriends or boyfriends in a heterosexual relationship remained in the emergency room with their respective significant others. It was unfair. Someone should complain to them.

She was barely concerned with complaining though. Someone had her angel back there, and she did not know what was happening. It frightened her. God forbid something to go wrong back there, but if it did, then she wanted to be with Casey. She had the right to be with her.

She glanced back at the clock. It was late, but she honestly did not care. She knew she would be waiting a long time anyway. She stood up from her chair and went to get a cup of tea to soothe her. She needed that right now.

* * *

Midnight came and went. The sun was almost rising before Olivia actually found out anything. The doctor approaching her was obviously at the end of his shift. She could barely keep her eyes open, and the hospital coffee was not helping anything. Once she caught sight of the relatively young doctor waling towards her, she rose. She forgot about the coffee, how tired she was, everything. "Well?" she prodded. "How long before I can take her home?"

"Quite some time, actually," the doctor began slowly. He shifted nervously and pulled Olivia aside. "Miss," he began.

"Detective," Olivia corrected as if it was a reflex. She frowned. Titles were not important. Casey was. "Sorry," she said. "How long is 'quite some time', exactly? A couple hours? A day? A couple days?" She was not getting any response. "How badly did he hurt her?"

The doctor knew he had to answer these questions. The younger the patient, the harder they were. He knew Casey was not a child, but she was still young. She was not even thirty yet. He was trying to think of the best way to frame his answers.

Olivia looked at him. From his behavior, she was guessing that he was still pretty new at telling the family members or friends what had happened. She should prod him harder. "Before she came in, it looked like she was having difficulty breathing, like it was hurting her. Is everything ok there?"

The doctor looked down at his chart. "Oh, right," he said. "She, um, does have a couple broken ribs, so go easy on her. When she wakes up, try to discourage her from a lot of movement. Morphine can only do so much."

Olivia nodded. "Of course," she said.

A younger person dressed in scrubs, an intern most likely, approached Olivia and the other doctor. "Neurology just saw it. They're taking her right away," she informed the doctor. The doctor nodded, thanked her, and turned his attention back to Olivia.

Olivia frowned. "What was that about?" she asked fearfully. She guessed it was about Casey. It had to be. Why else would they mention it in front of her? She had to know why. "What was it?" she repeated.

Silence.

This was getting annoying now. "Um, the paramedics said she hit her head," Olivia ventured. "Is she ok?"

The doctor finally had the nerve to tell Olivia. Hard as it might be, she had to know. "She has a concussion from the attack," he stated. "Honestly, that's the least of her worries right now."

"Why?" Olivia immediately asked. She didn't like this. She began to feel sick to her stomach. Her heart raced again like it had when she had first discovered Casey. She wanted to be with her. "What is it?" she demanded. "What's wrong with my angel?"


	3. Chapter 3

((Author's Note: I do apologize. I meant to have this on Saturday, but we lost power in a snow storm. Anyway, just read and review. The more reviews, the faster I'll be. As long as my teachers don't pound on the homework, I'll have the next chapter by Thurdsay.))

* * *

Chapter Three

"Detective, I really think you should sit down," the doctor said. He was more confident. He knew what he had to say. He could not keep this woman in the dark. She had to know. But her standing there scared him almost as much as the news he was about to tell her.

"Don't tell me to sit down," Olivia almost shouted. She took in a breath to calm herself. Yelling was not going to solve anything. She just needed answers. She needed them now. "Can you just tell me what's going on? Why do you have this tone? What's wrong with Casey?"

The doctor nodded slowly. "Well, the paramedics did inform us that Ms. Novak had hit her head," he started. "We ordered a CT scan right away to eliminate head trauma."

Olivia nodded slowly. So far it seemed harmless. But the way he was speaking told her it was not. She did not say anything. She just waited in fear for him to continue.

The doctor pulled out the CT scan and showed it to Olivia. "This is Casey's CT," he said. He pointed to a large pink area practically enclosing the entire front half of her brain.

Olivia could not hear anything else. She knew the doctor was now explaining it to her. She just could not listen. Her eyes were focused on the pink part of the scan. She was not a doctor, but she knew the pink area was bad. There was a lot of pink. It was nearly half pink. It was really bad. She felt tears welling in her brown eyes. She had to see Casey.

"High grade glioma," she caught the doctor saying.

High grade. She did not know what he was talking about again, but she assumed it was bad. Glioma. Tumor. Cancer. She shed a tear. How could this be happening? Why Casey?

"I'm sorry," the doctor said as he placed a gentle hand on Olivia's shoulder. "I know this can't be easy for you to hear. I honestly wish I could make you feel bet--"

Olivia swallowed. "How could I not have known?" she asked. "This must have taken time to progress this much. How could we not have known?"

The doctor sighed heavily. "I don't know. The symptoms aren't very specific. Did you notice any loss of appetite?"

_"Nothing for me, Liv," Casey said. The two of them were passing a McDonalds on their way from courthouse to the D.A.'s office. The arraignment had taken all morning, and Olivia was starving._

_"You sure?" Olivia asked as she walked inside. "If this is a money thing, it's my treat."_

_Casey chuckled. "Liv, just because I work for the city does not make me broke."_

_"I know, but you barely touched your French toast this morning. It's your favorite," Olivia argued back. She was a little concerned about Casey. She knew that some of these cases could dominate Casey's mind, but not like this. Even if it meant wolfing down a few mini-muffins on the way from the cab to the courtroom, Casey made time to eat. Come to think of it, she had not eaten much dinner either._

_Olivia shrugged it off. Casey was probably just coming down with a cold. She was just too stubborn to admit it._

"Sensitivity to light?" the doctor asked as he saw Olivia's head nod to the first symptom.

_Olivia smiled as she and Casey walked into Olivia's apartment. The hallway was poorly lit as usual, but Olivia's place would be fine. She jiggled the key around in the lock until it opened. She hit the lights on and swung Casey around until the two of them were inside._

_However, instead of smiling and kissing her as usual, Casey winced. She held her hands up in front of her face and covered her eyes._

_"Case, you ok_?" _Olivia asked as she moved to hug Casey._

_"It's bright," Casey said as she buried her head into Olivia's shirt. "It's too bright in here."_

"Temporary vision loss?"

_Olivia and Casey opened the door to the courthouse exit. Olivia walked out first and reveled in the New York air and sunshine. Casey stumbled behind, almost falling into Olivia. Olivia's reflexes were fast. She turned around and stopped Casey from hitting the ground hard. "Woah, honey, you ok?" she asked. She picked Casey's head up._

_"Liv, I don't see you," Casey said softly. Her voice was filled with panic._

_"It's ok," Olivia said. She kept her arms around Casey until the ADA pulled away. "You ok?" Olivia asked her earlier question._

_Casey nodded as the two of them began walking down the stairs outside the courthouse. "Yea, I'm fine. I guess it must have been the sun or something."_

"Seizures?" the doctor asked again. With each of Olivia's gestures, he was writing something down on his chart. He looked at Olivia.

"Um, no," Olivia answered.

"Headaches?"

"All the time," Olivia responded. "I just thought it was due to the stress and long hours she worked. I didn't--I didn't know." She felt bad all over again. She could have done something about this. She should have. She should have made sure Casey was fine.

"It's ok," the doctor said. "From what I gather, with the exception of the headaches, these were isolated incidents. Even as a doctor, I don't think I would have picked up on it right away."

Olivia could not get the image of Casey's CT scan out if her mind. The doctor put it away, but she remembered it. All the pink. Tumor. She shuddered. "C-can I see her?" she asked.

"Of course," the doctor said. "An oncologist will be up to see you as soon as Casey's awake."

Olivia turned back to face him. She knew that word. "Oncologist?" she asked fearfully. "Why? How bad is this exactly?"

"It's hard to say," the doctor said as if he was trying to find a way around the answer. "I'm sure they're going to run more tests to be--"

Olivia shook her head. "What are her chances?" she interrupted. "And don't give me medical jargon. I want to know in English, please."

The doctor nodded solemnly. "Not good," he answered honestly. "This could progress very quickly." He looked at Olivia. The sadness on her face. He did not need to tell her anything else. He should let her be with Casey. "But, like I said, the oncologist can tell you more."

Olivia nodded as she walked down the hall behind him. The doctor took her to the elevators. She could not remember the ride, but obviously it was there. All she could think about was Casey. She had never been this scared before in her life. She did not like the feeling. The doctor led her down to Casey's room. It was private. Olivia was grateful for that.

"I'll leave you two alone," he said as he closed the door.

Looking at Casey caused Olivia to want to burst out in tears. This was not fair. Why Casey? What did she do to deserve this? Why couldn't it have been the man who attacked her? The rapists in the world? She did not know how much longer she could stay like this without crying.

Casey shifted. She tossed slightly until she awoke. She appeared disoriented, but that was understandable. She then looked at Olivia. The detective could not hide the fact that she wanted to cry. Casey knew her too well. Casey took one look down at herself before looking up at Olivia. Obviously she was in a hospital. She did not know why. "Liv, what's happening?" she asked fearfully.

Olivia rushed onto the bed and pulled Casey into a tight hug.

"Ow," Casey exclaimed. "Damn it!"

"Shit!" Olivia muttered as she instantly pulled away. Broken ribs, dumbass, she told herself. "Casey, I am so sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have done that."

Casey dismissed it. Sure, she felt the pain. It was strong, but that did not bother her as much. She wanted to know what was happening. Why was she in pain? Why did Olivia hug her so tightly? What didn't she know?

"Liv, what's going on?" she asked.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Olivia hated telling Casey the truth about her condition. She did not like the look she saw on Casey's face. It was a look she had never seen before. In her mind, Casey was always strong. She feared nothing. But this Casey was a child. An innocent little girl who was afraid of telling her parents that she hit a softball through the neighbor's window. An innocent young woman who just discovered she could die soon. Olivia hated the whole thing.

Although she hated it, she had to be the one to tell Casey. She could not bear the thought of Casey hearing it from complete strangers who would only give her the medical crap first. She had to be the one to tell Casey about the cancer, the attack, everything. The only comforting bit she could give was that Casey was not raped. She did not know if that made her feel better or worse.

That was a couple of hours ago. It was almost eight o'clock now. Casey was back asleep. Olivia clutched to her nth cup of coffee. She refused to let herself fall asleep. Casey could wake up at any moment. She wanted to be there for her.

She looked over at Casey. The whole situation did not seem real. Casey looked too healthy. With the exception of the bruises on her face and the oxygen tube going into her nose, she looked the same as she did the previous day. She looked like an average American woman. This was too surreal.

The door creaked open. Olivia frowned. If it was another nurse or doctor, she was not in the mood. She had only been with Casey for about three hours, but she had already seen about twenty different members of the hospital staff.

Relief overcame her when she realized she would not be seeing the twenty-first. Elliot peeked his head past the curtain. He held a bouquet of flowers in his right hand. He placed the flowers down on Casey's nightstand and turned to Olivia. "How you holding up?" he asked her.

Tears filled in Olivia's eyes. Admitting it to Elliot would make it real. Elliot saw her tensing up and quickly moved closer to her. He wrapped his arms around her back and hugged her tightly.

"It's bad, Elliot," Olivia choked. "Really, really bad."

"I know, sweetheart," Elliot whispered as he rubbed small circles on her back. He wished there was something else he could do, something else he could say. He hated situations like this. He never felt he was doing the right thing.

Elliot kept his hold on Olivia tight. That was the only logical thing to do. She was his best friend. He hated seeing her like this. He knew he could not fix it. He rarely could. He could not bring Alex back. He could not magically make Casey's tumor disappear. He could comfort Olivia. He had to comfort Olivia. He guided her over to the chair and sat her down. He pulled a tissue out from the box on the nightstand and handed it to her.

Olivia nodded a small thanks as she dabbed at her eyes. "I don't know what to do," she told him. Her voice was barely over a whisper. "I just keep having this hollow feeling that she's not going to make it out of this. I just want to get her out of here. She doesn't belong here."

"Hey," Elliot interrupted. "None of that." He continued rubbing Olivia's back. "Casey's strong. You know that. She's going to pull through."

"Don't tell me that," Olivia argued. "If you keep telling me that, I'm going to believe it. And while I can tell Casey that I believe it, I don't. I know it makes me a bad person, but I'm scared for her, El. I'm really scared."

"I know," Elliot whispered back. "I am, too."

"This isn't fair," Olivia exclaimed. "Why did it have to be her? Why Casey?"

Elliot shook his head. "I don't know what to tell you, Liv." He wanted to make her feel better, but he respected her too much to tell her things he could not know would happen. He just sat there with her.

He stayed there for a half an hour. Neither one of them said anything. Elliot just held onto Olivia and did his best to calm her. One of the nurses, Olivia honestly could not remember which one, entered the room again to check Casey's vitals. As she did, Elliot glanced down at his watch. It was almost quarter to nine.

Olivia noticed his action. "Go," she whispered. "I don't need you to try and shelter me from this all day. You have work to do. Unfortunately, there are still rapists in the city."

Elliot rose. He rubbed her shoulders once more. "I'll be back," he promised.

* * *

It took Elliot only an hour and a half to return to the hospital. He knocked and entered in the same manner as he did the first time. He was still a little afraid of entering. He hated seeing this side of both Olivia and Casey. He glanced over at Olivia. She had large bags under her eyes, but she remained awake.

"You ok?" he asked her gently. "Up for some company?" As Olivia nodded, Elliot gave a motion towards the door and out of Olivia's sight.

Cragen, Fin, and Munch entered the small room. Munch and Fin had a large piece of posterboard with the words 'Get Well Soon' on it. Munch placed it on the nightstand next to Elliot's bouquet of flowers, which one of the nurses transferred to a vase. "The entire SVU signed it," he told Olivia.

"Thanks," Olivia said. "It'll be nice. She'll, um, appreciate it." She did not want to make the gesture seem less significant. However, she was simply too tired to come up with something better to say.

Cragen opened a small grocery bag that he was carrying. He pulled out two soft, brown teddy bears. One was dressed in a Yankees uniform, the other in a Mets uniform. "I couldn't remember which one she liked, so I got both."

Olivia gave him a weak smile as Cragen placed the bears at the end of Casey's bed. "Not that it's not great to see you, but what are you doing? Shouldn't you be out catching bad guys?"

"Our next vic was downstairs," Fin answered. "Since we were here, we had to see her." He looked down at Casey. "Damn, this sucks," he muttered. He turned to Olivia. "Does she even know yet?"

Olivia shook her head slightly. "I honestly don't know," she whispered. "I know I told her, but with her concussion, I don't know how much she'll remember. With all the pain meds they're giving her, she's only awake for periods of thirty to forty minutes at a time anyway." She refused to let herself cry in front of everyone. They were her co-workers. She knew they were more than that. They were her family, and they would understand, but still. With the exception of Elliot, no one else had ever seen her cry. "I hate this," she forced herself to say clearly.

"Take all the time you need," Cragen assured Olivia. "Casey's more important."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

It was almost noon when someone knocked on the door again. Casey was still asleep, but the doctors were predicting that she would awake soon. One of the nurses peered her head into the room. This one was different. Olivia had not seen her before. She was older, too.

"Can I get you two anything at all?" she asked. "Something to eat, drink, watch?" she offered. She was mainly asking Olivia about her wants.

Olivia exhaled as she flipped the television off. She had been watching reruns of _Cheers_ on TV Land since Elliot, Fin, and Munch left. Cragen was still downstairs talking with the hospital staff and the victim of their newest case. Branch had called about fifteen minutes ago to say that he was on his way over. He was bringing Tracey and Kelly. "No, thanks," she whispered to the nurse. "I don't really have much of an appetite right now."

The nurse nodded. "Understandable," she said. "Well, if you need anything, my name is Carol. I'll be handling Casey's case from now on. At least the day portion."

Olivia nodded back. She saw Tracey lingering in the doorway. She gestured at her and turned to Carol. "How long had she been there?" she asked.

Carol shrugged. "She got here just before I came in. Should I send her in?"

Olivia nodded weakly as she motioned for Tracey to enter. Branch was behind her, and Kelly was behind him. "Hey," Olivia whispered. She was exhausted. It was obvious. She sounded tired, and she looked tired.

"Not that it's any comfort right now, but we did get an indictment for the guy who beat her up," Tracey informed Olivia. She looked at Olivia closely. The exhaustion in her eyes was evident. "You should get some sleep," she said. "I can stay here until Casey wakes up."

"No, it's ok," Olivia said. "She'll be awake soon. Just go back to the office and work on making that indictment a conviction." She looked back at Casey. "I just can't stand the thought of her waking up without me," she choked. "She's already been through so much."

"I know," Tracey said as she quickly wrapped her arms around Olivia. This was an abnormal situation. She had never seen this side of Olivia. She didn't know if it was all due to worry over Casey's condition or because the detective has not slept in over thirty hours. "It's not fair."

Casey started stirring again. This time Olivia knew she was waking up. She grabbed Casey's hand and started whispering to her in a soothing voice. "It's ok," she whispered. "I'm here. It's ok. I'm here, and some people from your office are here."

Casey's eyes fluttered open. She groaned at the sight of everyone else there. Her boss was there. She did not want him to see her like this. Almost as a reflex, she pulled the bed sheets over her. "What's going on?" she asked. "Why is everyone in here?"

"We got an indictment against the man who put you in here," Kelly explained as she moved closer towards Casey. "Arraignment is later this afternoon," she added.

"And I don't want you to worry about anything work-related," Branch assured her. "I'm handing your live victim cases to Borgia or Rossi."

Casey dropped her mouth open. "You cannot be serious," she told Branch. "Borgia just started in homicide. That's overwhelming enough. And Rossi is just too inexperienced," she protested.

Branch shook his head at her. "But you're too sick to even think about this," he responded. "Don't worry. I'm not firing you. When your doctor says it's ok, you can come back to work."

"He's right, you know," Tracey pointed out. "You know how stressful your cases are. You can't do that and fight this at the same time."

"If you're going to hand my cases off to someone else, then at least make it Desmond. He's been doing this almost as long as I have," Casey grumbled.

Olivia turned to Casey and moved some strands of hair away from her face. "Don't worry about it, Case." She noticed that Casey was propping her head up with her hands. It was something she would occasionally do when the two of them were watching television. "You ok?" she asked in a concerned tone.

"It's too…too loud in here," Casey whispered as she leaned towards Olivia. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," Tracey whispered. "Just feel better," she said as she and Kelly left the room.

"Just concentrate on that," Branch said. "I promise you that the D.A.'s office can survive without you." He then left the room. He was about to close the door, but Casey's doctor was on his way inside. The doctor closed the door.

"Hey, Casey," Dr. Weber said gently as he sat down on one of the chairs at the side Casey's bed. Olivia was now sitting in the bed next to Casey. Casey's head was rested against Olivia's shoulder. "How do you feel?" he asked sympathetically. "And your co-workers are gone, so you can be straight with me."

Casey nodded weakly. "My head hurts," she admitted. "A lot."

Dr. Weber nodded. "Ok, I can get Carol to turn up the dosage on your IV," he offered. "But we need to talk about your options right now."

Olivia reached out and grabbed Casey's hand tightly for support.

"Options?" Casey asked. "Options like what?"

Dr. Weber sighed. "Well, the tumor is about half-operable," he said. "The surgery in and of itself is a very big risk. However, it's an even greater risk if we don't operate. It would definitely cut back on your chemo and radiation time."

"How big is a 'very big risk', exactly?" Casey asked. She did not like how this was sounding. She kept clutching Olivia's hand.

"About fifty-fifty for surviving the surgery," he said honestly.

"And without it?"

Dr. Weber sighed again. "I honestly can't say. It depends on how quickly the tumor progresses. Without it, the tumor might progress too much for the chemo and radiation to keep up. Without the surgery, I cannot guarantee that you'll make it to Christmas."

A tear rolled down Olivia's cheek. This was too much information. What was she supposed to do about this? How was she supposed to be ok with this?

"And with it?" Casey asked fearfully. She held her hand up. "No, I don't want to know." She drew in a breath. "I'm having the surgery."

"Are you sure?" Dr. Weber asked her. "I can give you time to think about it."

"No, I'm positive," Casey assured him. "Just get the consent forms or whatever," she said.

Dr. Weber nodded as he excused himself. "And I'll have Carol fix the IV for you," he promised.

Casey thanked him. As soon as she heard the door close, she glanced up at Olivia. During her conversation with Dr. Weber, she felt some of Olivia's tears fall onto her face. "It's going to be ok," she said.

"You can't know that," Olivia whispered as she dabbed at her eyes.

Casey shook her head. "Liv, I never told you this, but this won't be my first risky surgery," Casey said as she drew in another breath. She proceeded to explain. "When I was about twenty months old, my mother and I were coming back from something. I think my mom said it was a tumbling class, but it doesn't matter. Anyway, the stoplights were not working due to a power outage. Instead of treating like a four-way intersection, this guy drove right through the light even though my mom and I were in the lane. My parents told me that no one expected me to survive that accident. I had a small chance with surgery, and my parents took the risk." She sighed. "Obviously, I survived." She rubbed a hand along Olivia's cheek. "So don't worry about me. I'm going to make it through this," she said. "After all, someone has to get convictions for rapists in Manhattan," she pointed out.

"I'm not worried," Olivia stated.

"Liar," Casey accused.

Olivia knew Casey was right. "Ok, fine," she admitted. "But it's only because I love you. You're the best thing in my life. I can't lose you."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

The day dragged on forever. Casey would sleep for about half an hour at a time, but it was always the same day when she woke up. When Elliot returned to the hospital, Casey was asleep.

Olivia was awake, but barely. She was forcing herself not to fall asleep. She was getting irritable, especially with the hospital staff who would come in to check Casey's vitals. She knew she should be nice to them. They were the ones who were going to save Casey. She just could not do it. She had been seeing them for too long. There were too many of them to keep straight. Each time a new doctor came around, he or she wanted to hear Casey's account of what actually happened. That was the part that annoyed Olivia the most. Why couldn't they just talk to each other and work this out? Why did they have to keep interrupting her and Casey? Casey needed to sleep, but they made it almost impossible.

"How you holding up?" Elliot asked Olivia as he sat down in the chair next to hers.

Olivia shrugged. "Could everyone please stop asking me that?" Olivia asked weakly. "It's not me that's in trouble, it's Casey. Casey's the one I'm worried about. Casey's the one we're all worried about, but she's almost always asleep when people come by, so they turn to me. I'm just the one who is in love with Casey, but no one else can understand that, so they just ask stupid, idle questions to get rid of the uncomfortable silence. No one really cares about how I'm dealing with this."

Elliot shook his head as he moved closer towards Olivia. "Now that's not true. You're my best friend, Olivia. I care about you. It hurts me to see you like this." He started rubbing her back gently. "I don't think I've ever seen you this scared before. It's scaring me."

"Casey's scaring me," Olivia whispered back.

Elliot nodded. He did not say anything. He did not want to give Olivia some normal answer. Anything he said would not be the right thing to say anyway. "Get some sleep, Liv," he said. "You need it." Before Olivia could say anything else, Elliot continued. "Casey's asleep, and I promise you that I will stay here at least until she's awake."

Olivia nodded. She knew better than to argue with Elliot. She was too tired to think of anything else. She curled her legs up to her chest in the chair and rested her head on one of the arms. Almost instantly, she was asleep. For the first ten to fifteen minutes, she kept shifting her position in her sleep. It was almost as if she was still partially awake. However, after those first fifteen minutes or so, she was out. Elliot knew to leave her be. He pulled out a newspaper and read it until Casey awoke twenty minutes later.

"Hey there," he said softly. He refolded the newspaper and placed it on the floor by his feet. "Do you want me to wake Liv for you?"

Casey shook her head. "No, she needs to sleep," she said seriously. "And in all honestly, I kind of want to talk to you alone. Without Liv awake."

Elliot nodded as he moved his chair closer to the bed slightly. "What is it, Case?"

"Frankly, Elliot, I'm scared," Casey admitted. "I know I can put on this brave face in front of Liv. I have to. I think part of it was because she was tired, but I have never seen her like that."

"She's worried about you," Elliot said. "We all are." He rubbed her lower arm gently. "We just hate seeing you like this."

"And I hate the fact that I am like this," Casey said. "I'm not a hospital girl. I belong out there in the real world throwing someone's ass in jail or something. At the very least, I should be kicking your ass in softball."

Elliot chuckled. "You will be soon, Case. I promise."

Casey gave him a weak smile. "Elliot, can you promise me one thing?" she asked as she saw another nurse coming in to check her vitals. By now, she was used to it. Her arm was already extended by the time the nurse reached her bed.

"Sure," Elliot said.

"Just don't tell Liv we had this conversation," Casey said. "I don't know how she'll take it if she realizes how much this is scaring me."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

It was almost nine o'clock before Olivia woke up. She still had not gotten a full nine hours of sleep, but she did not need it. She felt fine right then. She was just worried about Casey. Her surgery was scheduled for early the next morning. Until then, the hospital would monitor her. If it looked like she was getting significantly worse, then they would go into surgery as soon as they could. The only reason they were not was because they wanted their most skilled surgeon on the case. To be able to do his best, that surgeon would need the night to sleep. Casey agreed to that plan of action once the doctors assured her that a couple hours would not make a huge difference.

However, she did not think she could stay in the hospital until the next morning waiting for this surgery. She was tired of sitting in the same hospital room. She wanted to small the city. She did not care about the pollution. She needed to get out of there, even if only for one night. She knew that after the surgery it would take a while before she could be released.

She kept pleading with the doctors to let her go for the night. Olivia offered to keep checking her vitals, but the doctors refused. Olivia told Casey not to worry about it. She'd get Casey the next best thing. After leaving Casey in Elliot's company, Olivia left.

"You feeling any better?" Elliot asked her curiously.

Casey shook her head. "I don't think I ever will," she admitted. "I know these surgeons are good, but I can't be ok with this. How can I be ok with all of this?"

Elliot did not have an answer for her. "Do your parents know yet?" he asked gently.

Casey nodded slightly. "I think I overheard Olivia calling them. I can't say for sure. It's all kind of fuzzy."

"You'll be fine," Elliot assured her.

Olivia returned about half an hour later. She was wearing a nicer top and some equally nice pants to match. She had smuggled in some take-out from Casey's favorite restaurant. She considered bringing a CD, but then wisely decided against it. Casey was getting more sensitive to loud sounds. It did not even have to be very loud for her to feel sick.

Elliot excused himself. He said he would be back in the morning.

Casey was grateful for all of this. She and Olivia were just eating and talking. For a second, Casey forgot where she was or why she was there. She was enjoying herself. Despite the conditions, it was one of the best nights of her life.

Early the next morning, the doctors came into her room. They carefully transported her towards the prep room for surgery. As the nurse added a sedative to Casey's IV, Casey looked up at Olivia. It was the first time Olivia noticed the fear in Casey's eyes. It was bigger than the fear she saw before.

Olivia wrapped her arms around Casey. Despite her inner fears that Casey was not going to make it, Olivia had to play strong. She had to convince Casey that she was going to be ok. "You know, Case, this is routine for the doctors here. You're in good hands."

"Thank you," Casey whispered. "For not treating me like I'm about to die."

"Well, you're not," Olivia said. The confidence in her voice was changing to shakiness and disbelief. "You're going to be fine," Olivia quickly added. "And I'll be waiting for you when you get out."


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. This one's been hard to write recently.

* * *

Chapter Eight 

Olivia's eyes were focused solely on the doors leading to the surgery room. That was where her gaze had been ever since Casey entered surgery five hours ago. Since then, several people had been by to see her. Elliot took the day off to stay with Olivia. He did not want to leave her alone. He could not bear the thought of Olivia having to hear it alone that Casey did not make it. Of course, he hoped it would not come to that, but if it should he had to be there for Olivia.

Cragen was there shortly after Casey had gone into surgery. He expressed his sincerest hopes that she would be ok. He assured Olivia that Casey would be fine, but he doubted Olivia actually heard him. She was not focused on anyone but the surgeons and surgical nurses on the other side of that door.

Branch had stopped by after lunch, but like Cragen he could not stay long. He hoped Casey would pull through. She was one of the best ADAs he had seen in a while. He had high hopes for her.

At one, Casey's parents and the youngest of her older brothers arrived at the hospital. Like Olivia, Mr. and Mrs. Novak were only focused on the surgeons. The three of them watched their every move.

Gregory on the other hand was too distracted. He cared deeply about his younger sister. Casey was the baby of their family, but he could not focus on the surgery itself. His thoughts kept going to what would happen if she did not make it. She would not be able to eat vending machine food again. She would never cry, laugh, or smile again. Worst, she would never see any of them again.

_"You are to double infinity!" Gregory yelled at Casey. He was seven at the time, and she was only five. The two of them were playing hide and seek with their older brothers and some other children in the neighborhood. In all, there were ten children. Casey was the youngest, and since Gregory had found her first, she was "It"._

_Casey's lower lip moved up into a pout. "Fine," she agreed reluctantly. "But you better not scare me," she warned as she moved over towards the tree on their front lawn._

_"I won't," Gregory said as he put his hands above his head._

_"Promise?" Casey asked in a very five-year-old tone of voice._

_"I said I won't scare you," he said as he rushed to go hide somewhere._

He sighed heavily. He promised not to scare her, and he kept his end of the bargain. She was scaring the hell out of him right now. He had to know that she was going to be ok. He moved over and took a seat next to Olivia. "Thank you," he told her softly.

Olivia turned around slightly at him. "For what?" she asked. "If anything, I should be thanking you. You look relatively calm. I wish I could do that."

Gregory shook his head. "The fact that you can't just shows how much you care about her," he said. "I know how happy you make her. I haven't ever seen her happier." He exhaled. "Worse comes to worse, I want that to be how you remember her."

Olivia did not know how to respond. Half of her wanted to remain calm. She had to keep herself from breaking down in the hospital. The staff did not need an emotional wreck. But the other half wanted to be that emotional wreck. She had to know that Casey would be ok. Until she did, she could not rest easily. She did not know what to say to Gregory, so she said nothing. She just reached her hand down and took his for support. She supported him while he supported her.

They remained that way for the rest of Casey's surgery. The only break from that position was when one of them had to go to the bathroom. They were too worried to eat. By five, Casey was still in surgery. Munch, Fin, Warner, and Cragen were in the hospital. Huang was in the bathroom, but he would be back momentarily. They all expressed their concerns to Olivia and Casey's family. About every half hour, one of Casey's parents would phone her other relatives to give them an update. It was never anything much, but it was something to pass the time. None of them could eat.

Olivia sighed heavily as she turned to Elliot for a second. It was just long enough for him to catch that she was talking to him. Her eyes then immediately darted back to the operating room. "It's weird how fast this all is," she stated. "The day before yesterday our weekend plans consisted of maybe seeing a movie together. She exhaled again. "And the only issue was who was paying for take-out on Friday. Pretty pointless, huh?"

Elliot shook his head. "No," he told her. "This came as a shock to all of us." The lead surgeon was stepping away from the operating table. The residents appeared to be closing up the incisions and bandaging Casey's head. The lead surgeon stepped out and walked over to Olivia. Elliot took that as his cue to leave, so he walked over to the other side of the waiting room and joined Munch and Fin. Casey's parents and brother walked over towards Olivia.

"How is she?" Olivia immediately asked. She felt her body tensing up just asking the question. She did not know what she would do if the outcome was negative.

"Unconscious, but otherwise stable," the doctor told Olivia. He glanced into the operating room again. "I'd like to keep her for about a week to make sure she heals all right," he continued. "All goes well, and she should be able to start chemo by next week."

Gregory gestured at himself, his parents, and Olivia. "Can we see her?" he asked as he saw the doctors starting to wheel Casey out of the operating room. She looked pale, but that could be attributed to the lighting in the hallway and her hospital gown. The back of her head was wrapped in bandages, but he could not see anything through them.

None of that mattered to Olivia. All that mattered right now was that Casey had survived. A small sigh of relief escaped her mouth as the nurse rolled Casey and her IV passed them.

The doctor nodded. "Of course," he said gently. "Just give the staff a couple minutes to get her situated."


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: I apologize that this chapter is so short, but I had to put something along its lines in the story, and it would not work well with what I have planned for the next chapter.

* * *

Chapter Nine 

It was well past visiting hours before Casey actually woke up. Her parents and brother had to get back to their hotel room. Elliot, Fin, Cragen, and the rest of the SVU who was there had long left. They wished Casey the best, but they knew they could not stay. Hospital policy.

Only Olivia was left. She could not bear leaving Casey. She knew Casey would be waking up soon. Casey has been through too much these past two days. She could not stand the idea of her waking up alone.

Casey's eyes started fluttering open. She moaned slightly as she started tossing slightly. Olivia instinctively reached out and took Casey's hand into hers. "It's ok," Olivia whispered. "Case, it's ok. I promise."

Casey finally opened her eyes. "Olivia," she whispered.

"It's me," Olivia told her. "How are you feeling?" she asked in a concerned tone. She reached out and hugged Casey lightly.

Casey shrugged as she leaned back down and rested her head against her pillow. "A little nauseous, but otherwise fine," she admitted.

"Good," Olivia said. "Casey, I am so glad you made it," she stated.

Casey smiled slightly. "Me, too," she whispered. She did not want to talk much louder. Her head still hurt. The pain was less than it had been previously, but it was still there. She did not know how much longer she could remain awake.

Olivia leaned forward and kissed Casey's lips. "I love you."


End file.
